Monirobo Arrives at Fukushima Nuclear Plant

Earlier today, TMCnet’s Ed Silverstein asked why there were no robots taking part in the dramatic attempts to regain control of the situation at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.

Well according to the Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun (hat tip to New Scientist), a robotic assistant was finally on the scene. (The English language Web home of the Asahi Shimbun newspaper can be found here.)

According to the paper, the robot in question is Monirobo (from “Monitoring Robot”), which was developed by Japan's Nuclear Safety Technology Center can be operated remotely from a distance of about 1km.

A bit of potential good news coming from the disaster stricken region is that Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO), the operator of the nuclear power facility, just announced it has connected a makeshift power supply line to the plant and hopes to begin the process of restarting water pumps that are critical in the fight to cool overheated nuclear fuel rods.